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New way to customise your phone

LONDON, UK - A tattoo artist has launched a new service . . . tattooing phones.

Body artist Simon Templeman will copy your favourite design on to the back of your phone using a unique technique developed by him for the Nokia Lumia 710.

By fine-tuning a special air-brush he recreates the needle and ink effect of a tattoo to recreate body art.

“It’s a great way to make your phone stand out,” he said. “Tattoos say a lot about people, so I thought it would be great for them to be able to put that individuality on their phone too.”

Simon was inspired when he heard about the Nokia Lumia 710 and its interchangeable back panels that come in a choice of colours.

“With this product you can create the ultimate customisable phone,” he added. “You can choose a colour, and I can put your favourite tattoo on it as well, making it a total one-off.”

Nokia launched the first of their Lumia Smartphone range in November and as a result are already the world’s No.1 supplier of Windows Phone devices.

The Nokia Lumia 710 has had a fantastic reception and its sales in the US have already exceeded expectations. It is also doing really well in the UK where it is now available via all leading mobile phone networks and retailers.

Working from his HQ, called IAINTNOSAINT.COM in Abbots Langley, Herts, the 45-year-old tattoo artist uses special lacquer layers to make the designs permanent on the phone.

And he is working on a laser technique to actually burn the image on to the phone. “I used to work in the phone case business,” he said. “But I moved into tattooing, because it is far more creative. The new Nokia phone inspired me to combine my skills.”

Simon charges from £40 to tattoo a phone, depending on the intricacy of the design.

And they can get pretty detailed.

David Beckham famously has the names of all four of his children tattooed across his arms and torso, his wife’s name Victoria spelled in Hindi, and a guardian angel. Or you could mimic Angelina Jolie and try a Buddhist incantation, some Arabic script – and the geographic coordinates of where your children first entered your life.

But just as with a body tattoo, you need to think carefully about the design you put on your phone, because as Simon points out: “All ink of the ink is permanent in my tattoos, whether in your skin or on your phone cover.”